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View From Wasilla?

Editorial of The New York Sun | September 1, 2014

“Palin Was Right” is the headline that catches our eye on the Daily Beast. It runs over an Associated Press dispatch, disclosing details of a long-ago program to prepare for an invasion of our northern territory by the Soviet Union. The AP has worked itself up into something of a swivet about this. To us the FBI looks ever more far-signed now that the Europeans are scrambling to see whether the Russians have actually invaded Ukraine and President Obama is admitting in respect of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria that he lacks a strategy.

Where is J. Edgar Hoover when we need him? He was apparently behind the program in Alaska. Between 1950 and 1959, the AP reports, the FBI “recruited and trained fishermen, bush pilots, trappers, and other private citizens across Alaska for a covert network to feed wartime intelligence to the military.” The idea was that when the Reds got across the Bering Straight, these agents would know of pre-placed caches of radio equipment and survival supplies and start transmitting intelligence back to our government. Smart. They could see Russia from their houses.

Governor Palin, of course, didn’t actually say “I can see Russia from my house.” That was Tina Fey parodying her reply to Charlie Gibson, to whom she said of Russia: “They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska.” But Mrs. Palin did actually comprehend the significance of Russia’s proximity to America. The secret program AP reports on was codenamed “Washtub.” The wire advises that “with the benefit of hindsight, it would be easy to dismiss ‘Washtub’ as a harebrained scheme born of paranoia.”

Washtub, the AP says, reflected “genuine worry about Soviet intentions and a sense of U.S. vulnerability.” It notes that as the plan was being shaped in 1950, “Soviet-backed North Korea invaded South Korea, triggering a war on the peninsula that some in the Pentagon saw as a deliberate move by Moscow to distract Washington before invading Europe. The previous summer the Soviets stunned the world by exploding their first atomic bomb. Also in 1949, the U.S. locked arms with Western Europe to form the NATO alliance.” Plus Mao declared victory in China.

POTD: Geography Lesson

“They’re our next-door neighbors, and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska.” ~ Gov. Sarah Palin, 2008

During the 2008 POTUS election cycle then Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, running as Sen. John McCain’s VP, referenced Russia’s very close proximity to her state (and by that, the USA), and noted how as governor who had to protect her state’s sovereignty and business interests she had to be very aware of Russia’s real and possible threats to them.

However, in the left’s ugly petty ways, a ratings floundering NBC show’s bit comedy actress dressed up as the female governor and claimed “And I can see Russia from my house.” And that was the context by which the leftist MSM and others would falsely present Gov. Palin’s remarks on the matter. Even liberal-driven Snopes had to choke on this one.

Recently Sarah Palin and decorated US Marine Corps war hero Dakota Meyer traveled to the area the real Gov. Sarah Palin was talking about in 2008 and took this photo shot, with Russia photo-bombing in the background.

Back then even Slate had to confirm Palin’s claim, although poo-pooing any possible threat to us because the area is often foggy, very under-developed, and not of any real value to anyone walking upright on two legs, or something:

Yes. Russia and Alaska are divided by the Bering Strait, which is about 55 miles at its narrowest point. In the middle of the Bering Strait are two small, sparsely populated islands: Big Diomede, which sits in Russian territory, and Little Diomede, which is part of the United States. At their closest, these two islands are a little less than two and a half miles apart, which means that, on a clear day, you can definitely see one from the other.

Slate goes on to shrug-off any need for interest in those close areas, because they’re not like the Kremlin, you know…

It’s not as if Alaskans can see into the heart of the Kremlin, though. The region you’d be seeing from these vantage points is the Chukotka autonomous district, a massive, desolate expanse of about 285,000 square miles with a population of about 55,000. (That’s an area roughly the size of Texaswith a population the size of Pine Bluff, Ark.) Chukotka has fewer than 400 miles of road and no railroad infrastructure; the population is mostly employed in mining and subsistence hunting. The more strategic areas of the Russian coastline, militarily speaking—the Kamchatka Peninsula, home to a nuclear submarine base, or Vladivostok, headquarters of the Russian Pacific Fleet—are not visible from Gov. Palin’s home state.

Before we go any further, yes, I know that I spelled the word “respect” incorrectly. I suppose I wanted to emphasize that many of those serving in this President’s administration are seemingly cut from the same cloth. When I read the following entry on Chuck Heath, Jr.’s Facebook page, I must confess that I felt a range of emotions starting with anger, then sadness and again anger.

Here’s what Chuck Heath, Jr. wrote:

Gina McCarthy, the head of the EPA and an Obama appointee, visited Alaska and was given a couple of small gifts from the locals. One of the gifts was a jar of moose meat. McCarthy is quoted as saying, “that stuff could gag a maggot”. She was also given a souvenir pin from the community of North Pole. When asked about it, she said “I threw the f…ing thing away!”

Zero respect for the traditions and kindness of Alaskans, and it looks like our own Alaska Senator Begich has stepped up to defend her.

Take a look at McCarthy’s record on carbon credits, Keystone Pipeline stance, etc., and you’ll get a good look at someone that is thwarting American resource development and energy independence.

This is another reason we want the Federal government to STAY OUT OF OUR BUSINESS!

I can only venture to guess that Ms. McCarthy has absolutely no clue as to the amount of work that went into that life-sustaining jar of moose meat. There was the planning and preparation for the hunt. There was the time invested in the hunt itself with no guarantee that it would be successful. Finally, if the hunter is successful, the meat must be properly field-dressed and then cured, canned, or frozen in order to preserve it so that the meat is safe to eat. A lot of work went into that gift of canned moose meat!

Would it have really been that difficult to simply say “thank you”? Was it necessary for a government official on a taxpayer funded trip to drop the F-bomb? Somewhere along the way, Ms. McCarthy missed the important lesson of “do unto others”.

Is it really too much to expect R-E-S-P-E-C-T from public servants? Apparently so.

Ordinary Americans, some involved in the Tea Party movement, some involved in local efforts, and some involved in no formal organization at all, are concerned about the country’s future. Not long after President Obama entered office and revealed himself to be the reckless spender he is, these people decided to take a stand and speak out against a government that was growing too big and spending too much. Contrary to what left wing politicians and their leftist media comrades would propagandize the country into believing, the opposition to the President is not rooted in racism. It’s rooted in patriotism and a desire to preserve America through common sense measures. Riding that wave, the 2010 midterm elections brought fresh faces to Congress, as Americans used their voting power to demonstrate their fatigue with the permanent political class and their desire to elect public servants who would do the people’s business with fiscal restraint.

So how is it that we stand where we are today, teetering on the edge of this so-called fiscal cliff, with Americans wondering if politicians—on both sides of the aisle—are talking out of both sides of their mouths? Currently, it looks like the Republican Establishment is showing more spunk than I’m accustomed to seeing them show. Perhaps this will be the time that they stand on principle and not allow themselves to be party to that game so popular in Washington, Kick the Can Down the Road. Time will tell.

I’m just a simple person, and in my simple mind time-tested methods should always be applied when funds are low and debt is high. First and foremost—again in my simple mind—should be taking this advice: Stop spending!

There’s much Washington can learn from how Governor Palin executed her duties as a public servant. She has a record of fiscal responsibility. As mayor of her hometown of Wasilla and governor of Alaska, she demonstrated her knowledge that she was a steward of other people’s money. Politicians today seem to have a hard time understanding that they, too, have been entrusted with other people’s money and must handle that responsibility prudently, which might explain why they all too often speak so cavalierly about taking more of this money to finance continued spending.

Never has this been more evident than in President Obama’s commitment to raising taxes during woeful economic times when hardworking Americans need more, not less, of their own money in their own pockets and when our job creators cannot afford the additional tax strain that’s coming down the pike if Obama has his way. Democrats continue to advocate for kicking the can down the road, expecting Americans to wait another year before they tackle entitlement reform and serious spending cuts. Will Republicans be equally guilty, easily caving on the issue of taxing and spending, or will they be true to their principles? Where exactly will these fiscal cliff talks take them—and us?

The situation America faces is a serious one, but when I look at Governor Palin’s history in office, it doesn’t seem a hopelessly difficult situation. It boils down, again, to a common sense approach. The Governor has always said that public servants should do for their constituents what they do for their own families during tough times: cut all superfluous spending, shop more wisely, save for a rainy day, and make sacrifices. During her time serving Alaskans, she endeavored to function within that framework of fiscal restraint and sanity. I’m not talking about times of bankruptcy. She did the right thing even during a surplus. That’s wisdom. That’s discipline. That’s stewardship.

In her capacity as mayor, she cut personal property tax, the business inventory tax, and the property tax mil levy every year. As governor, she yearly utilized her line-item veto power to cut spending by millions of dollars, invested $5 billion in state savings, forward-funded education, provided Alaskans a resource rebate to offset energy costs, and opted to reject much of the proffered “stimulus” funds. The upshot of the Governor’s wise fiscal management included a business boom, decreased unemployment, and an improved credit rating.

Putting her money where her mouth was, Governor Palin also denied herself raises during her career. How often do we see this from our politicians? Rather, they’re too often getting fat off of insider trading, legal graft, and crony capitalism, as foreign policy adviser to Governor Palin, Peter Schweizer, reveals in his book, Throw Them All Out.

With the fiscal cliff political football being bandied about, politicians need to return to the basics of sound practice, the kind Governor Palin espoused. My simple mind leads me to believe that measures that work in running a family, city, or state will work in running this country. Furthermore, my simple mind thinks that there should be no consideration of raising taxes—and no caving on the issue—when politicians have not gotten serious about cutting spending. Line by line, program by program, entitlement by entitlement, it’s time to do the work of reining in all wasteful, unnecessary, unsustainable spending. America cannot wait until next year. We cannot kick the can down the road. We’ve reached the end of the road already. As Governor Palin told Greta Van Susteren recently, “We’ve already gone over the cliff.” Indeed, Americans cannot afford to pay more of their hard-earned money in taxes to a government that refuses to do its part to truly cut into the debt and deficit, but instead burdens the very people they claim to be serving.

I sure do hope our elected officials are up to the task because much is riding on their ability to do the right thing.

Determined to give an honest review and not to allow my friendships with the family influence my review of the book, I found it difficult in reading the first few pages not to notice similarities between what was being described, and what I know of the authors. “Fish out of water” feelings in describing the surreal nature of being thrust into the limelight, and the journey of their lives to this point described in ways I’ve witnessed in person, affirmed this book is truly written from the heart of these authors, not just from memory. Personal connections (and difficulties in the timeliness of my review) aside, I endeavor to review “Our Sarah: Made In Alaska.”

Being “Alaskan” is hard to describe to those outside without the typical clichés – the adventure, the rugged landscape and the people who inhabit it, and the lifestyle. I believe it’s all these things that make it hard to describe what it’s like to live here and become a part of it, but this book has done a very good job of describing the components that make up that pioneer spirit. Every person’s walk through life is different, and every Alaskan’s path is even broader. Not gushing over Sarah Palin’s accomplishments, but rather weaving a tale of their life’s journeys, you are left to the realization that each step in life forms us, shapes us, into who we become. We use these influences to make the decisions that affect ourselves and others. The how’s and why’s of Sarah Palin’s decisions as an individual and political influence are left to the reader – the book is a journey you take with Sarah Palin’s father and brother into who she has become. Not spending a lot of time gushing over Sarah and how exciting it is to be a family member, but more time telling Alaskan stories that build a framework of how Sarah came to be the person she is. This book is as much about living life in Alaska and taking all the best things from it, as it is a telling of how that lifestyle shaped who Sarah Palin is today.

The well-known topics of faith, patriotism, family, and a love of outdoors and sports, are dealt with affection and care. This is not a book that tells you why she is who she is – it’s more a book of discovery. While their writing styles are different, each chapter brings you closer to understanding more about Alaska and the Heath/Palin family.

While I personally know Chuck Sr. better than I do his son, I was surprised at some of the things revealed in this book – stories I’ve never heard and things about both their pasts that led to “ah ha” moments and put things into perspective. One of the things I’ve always enjoyed when being around Chuck Sr. are his stories – his ability to tell any tale. He is one who has a gift for being able to recount an event and not make the listener feel as if he is being told a “fish story,” but rather someone who has a sage wisdom about that of which he speaks. You’re privy to a piece of living history in the stories he recounts. His son is an amazingly good writer and does an excellent job of making this book enjoyable while telling his version of growing up, “Alaska Style” in the Heath household.

If you think you’ve heard it all, and read it all – think again. This book makes the picture clearer than ever before, told by those who lived it and were there, not by those who admire or have their own agenda. It led me to appreciate and understand them, and Sarah Palin, even more.

There will be those Alaskans (and those outside), particularly in the media, who will read this review and others and form their own opinions from the reviews – not the book. The comparisons will come as well as some negative meme, and that is truly unfortunate. As an Alaskan, I ask that you read the book and form your own opinion. We Alaskans enjoy our independence and free spirit – it suits us well. After reading this book you can’t help but have a better understanding and appreciation for the foundation that Sarah Palin’s family and their experiences have given her, and this book is a testament to that.

(Tracey Porreca is an Alaska resident and founder of Alaskans4Palin. Our Sarah: Made In Alaska was provided for review by MNS)

I had the honor of reading an advance copy of Our Sarah: Made in Alaska, written by Sarah Palin’s father and brother, Chuck Heath, Sr. and Chuck Heath, Jr. Below is my book review of their intimate story of the person who captivated America upon becoming the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. While many have only seen her through the biased lens of the mainstream media, the authors take us beyond that veil, allowing us to see who Sarah Palin really is and how that person came to be.

How often have you embarked upon a reading journey only to find yourself so captivated by the words on the page that putting the book down is not an option? If you’re lucky, you might encounter such a scenario a handful of times throughout your years. During these experiences, we allow neither hunger, responsibilities, nor sleep to pull us away because we find ourselves glued to the words on each page. These moments, though refreshing, are extremely rare. Our Sarah: Made in Alaska was one such moment for me.

When it comes to Sarah Palin, everyone has a narrative, an impression, an opinion–and most have expressed them. Indeed, the verbiage on the subject is without parallel. But who would you rather hear from–those who claim to know her, or those who know her well, who have seen her at both her weakest and strongest moments, and have shared a lifetime of memories with her? Chuck Heath, Sr. and Chuck Heath, Jr. have promised readers an intimate look into the life of this political lightning rod who has captured the minds, if not the hearts, of all of America. They delivered. While many view her, and thus refer to her, as the former governor of the remote state of Alaska, her father and brother’s vantage point is much closer–so close, in fact, that they’re able to do what most, even her most ardent supporters, cannot do: refer to her, in earnest, as “our Sarah.” The magic they have performed, however, is that the pages of their book, which hold the chapters of Palin’s life, convince us that we on the outside are in that same place of familiarity, or, at the very least, that it’s well within our reach.

I had been curious about the logistics of how Chuck, Sr. and Chuck, Jr. would co-author a book in which they shared family experiences. For example, how would they refer to certain people? Would Mrs. Heath be “Sally” or would she be “Mom”? Would Sarah be “my daughter” or “my sister”? Simple things like that grabbed my curiosity. The style they chose was perfect. Through alternating chapters, each author is able to share his own reflections and emotions surrounding a particular event, as he remembers it and as he feels it.

Though she is the subject of the book, and not the author, Sarah’s spirit is very much there, from the first page. She penned the foreword, and like a tour guide, she leads us as we set out on the journey. But then she withdraws, handing us over to the capable leadership of authors she trusts. Trusting them, however, did not shield her from feelings of apprehension when they decided to write the book, and she candidly tells readers why she was conflicted.

I began the reading with the knowledge that the father-son team intended to provide stories of family adventures, Sarah’s foundation of faith, and the influences that brought her to the place where she now stands. Yes, I found those things. What I also found was that Our Sarah is every bit their story as it is the story of their daughter and sister. The quotations they use to open each chapter provide evidence of that; while they highlight words that she has spoken, they also highlight their own. I grew to understand them more through the things they experienced–some joyful, some quite painful. Chuck, Sr., in particular, gives a heartwarming depiction of his upbringing and the regrets with which he’s had to live. Palin refers to her brother, Chuck, Jr., in Going Rogue as “all boy.” The sense of adventure he inherited from his father is evident in Our Sarah, as he continues to enjoy activities that he enjoyed as a youngster. By allowing readers to view them so intimately, they provide a closer view of Sarah. No doubt, both father and son would tell us she has impacted their lives, as she has the lives of many, but through the experiences they detail, it is obvious that she is who she is, in large part, because they are who they are.

In Our Sarah, Chuck, Sr. and Chuck, Jr. give us a look into a family that worked hard, played hard, and loved hard, with details of each. Their portrayal of both Sarah Heath and, later, Sarah Palin confirm the belief that, should she ever choose to do so, she could walk away from political life, remain in Alaska, and be every bit as happy. Alaska is in her, just as the lessons she’s been taught there, through the lifestyle she’s received there, are in her. She doesn’t need the national stage, but it has managed to get in her as well. She chooses to live the life she lives–not out of a need to be center stage, but out of a desire to make a difference. The authors inform the readers that even at a young age, big things seemed to be on the horizon for Sarah, and they tell us of people who, during the course of her upbringing, recognized her as someone “special,” someone who just had a certain “something,” and someone whose destiny called for greatness. They don’t belabor the point, but it’s certainly there.

Our Sarah took me through the full gamut of emotions. In the span of neighboring pages, I found myself seething with anger, laughing uproariously, and weeping uncontrollably. I was riveted while reading just how close death was at different times, and moved at how far away answers to life’s biggest questions sometimes were. I saw the frustration of both a protective brother, as he realized that there were battles he could not fight for his younger sister or shield her from, and a dad, as he observed his daughter so viciously wronged. Sarah’s brother and father show us their lives and her life, so ordinary that as I read of their regrets, challenges, and questions, I thought of my own. Though we’re all so very different in background and experiences, it’s all quite familiar. The range of emotions, therefore, is only natural. Readers who have fixated on how different they are from Palin should be prepared to come away realizing something else altogether.

Sarah Palin’s father, whose love for the great outdoors took him and his growing family to the Last Frontier, was eager to find rewarding work, satisfying adventures, and robust competition. Their family of athletes learned to push themselves to the limits, and they reaped the rewards of perseverance and hard work. As I turned the pages of Our Sarah: Made in Alaska, I became increasingly aware that Palin did not arrive at such heights of personal and professional achievement by accident.

Chuck, Sr. and Jr. show us how Sarah grew up with a competitive spirit, a stubborn streak, and dogged determination. Concerning sports, it was tenacity, not just talent, that brought her the success she enjoyed. She refused to give up. This didn’t dissipate as she got older and faced bigger challenges. She enjoyed greater successes with seemingly insurmountable odds. Her own self-determination and hard work, coupled with her ability to garner the support of others, propelled her into a career of public service that eventually propelled her onto the national stage. Her faith in God, though it was misrepresented and ridiculed on the campaign trail, remain at the forefront of her life, something she inherited from her mother, Sally. And this is the first time, at least as far as I know, that Chuck, Sr. opens up about faith, as he transparently tells of the impact of God and church on his wife and children.

Never before have I read a book that so passionately details the events of a life that it made me want a do-over. These authors stirred that within me. As I read, I began to feel that I had been cheated as a child. An upbringing in the cold wild of Alaska is not what I’m talking about. Snowmachining, hunting, and hiking sound wonderful, but that’s not what I’m talking about, either. What the authors manage to do is adequately describe how they view the world around them, which they see in a way that I could not fathom as a child. Admiring mountains and lakes and the history contained in them never dawned on me when I was a kid. Getting up before school and hunting was certainly not something I ever did. Neither did it ever cross my mind that others were doing it. Even as a youngster of faith, I never led a group of my peers at school in prayer. Reading their details of this kind of life, the kind that Sarah enjoyed, made me wish I could go back and do it again, do childhood again, and do it the Heath way this time–with the adventures, the expectations to work, and the deep family bonds.

Granted, it wasn’t all fun and games in their family. There were hardships, too. There were risks, estrangement, discovering dead bodies–and almost becoming one. But their account of their upbringing sounds like truly living to me. Their book makes me want to love deeper, dream bigger, and run faster–literally and figuratively. I already knew much of Sarah Palin’s fascinating life story, and I didn’t think there was room to grow in my respect for her, but this intimate look, through the distinct perspectives of two of the closest people in her life, made me respect and admire her all the more. I do not know if that was the authors’ intent, but they certainly accomplished as much.

Of course, Chuck, Sr. and Chuck, Jr. take us through the 2008 vice presidential candidacy. Where were they when they learned she was Senator McCain’s running mate? Did she ever drop a hint before then? What stood out at the start of her RNC speech? These answers are all in Our Sarah, along with deeper things like what causes resentment to build in a father and what causes it to melt like the snow at the end of an Alaska winter. Turning pages, I recognize names of people in the grassroots and blogosphere who have made an impact on Sarah and her family, promote her cause, and continue to provide support since the 2008 election, and I am reminded that she, like they, never forget even the little people who help along the way.

Our Sarah helped me understand the humility that Palin exemplifies, as well, in spite of her fame and success. Chuck, Jr., having been a gifted football player, relates one of his favorite lessons from his father: “When you get to the end zone, act like you’ve been there before.” Sarah epitomizes that type of grace. Never one to toot her own horn, you get the distinct impression that she takes everything that has occurred, particularly since 2008, in stride–the instant celebrity, the fortune, the opportunities. She’s made it into the end zone, but she never spikes the ball. She acts like she’s been there before. She acts like she belongs. Through the stories relayed by her father and brother, we see that she has been there and she does belong. With every early morning hunt, every basketball practice, every mile run, every child born, every sign-waving gathering, every campaign, and every speech she stepped into that end zone, and she learned how to handle it well because of her character, which was carved out of those lessons taught, people encountered, and experiences lived.

Our Sarah: Made in Alaska lives up to its promise as an intimate look into the various adventures, challenges, and influences in the life of Sarah Palin. I couldn’t put the book down. It inspired me, it fed my curiosity, and it left me wanting more. Glancing at the cover, before reading a word, I sensed the aura of family, home, and love that I also found waiting once I opened the book and began reading. Chuck, Jr. is not pictured on the cover, which I admit I find a questionable publisher’s decision for a book that pictures both his co-author and his subject. However, on the cover or not, Chuck, Jr. is very much present within the pages of the book, as is his father, and, of course, as is his sister. The more I read, the more I connected with Sarah Palin and her family. The more pages I turned, the more deeply I understood who she is, not through the ill-intentioned–or even well-meaning–words of someone who doesn’t really know her, but through the words of two people who have known her all her life and whose book has helped to make their Sarah our Sarah as well.

The Joan of Arc of Alaska politics

Gov. Sarah Palin: A biography

Sarah Palin was a hockey mom, small-town mayor and rising young Republican star in Alaska in 2003 when she ran afoul of her party’s establishment as a whistleblower and was cast into the political wilderness.

But she came charging back as an ethics crusader to win the governor’s office in 2006 (including a landslide primary victory over incumbent Republican governor Frank Murkowski) and has remained one of the most popular local politicians in America even as she continued to take on such powerful figures as the oil companies and the leaders of her own state party.

Palin, 44, has been the Joan of Arc of Alaska politics, marching into battle against long odds on such big local issues as oil taxes and construction of a natural gas pipeline only to see her opposition crumble. Days after her 2006 primary victory, an FBI investigation into political corruption involving the oil industry and Republican legislators burst into view with surprise raids of legislative offices. Criminal indictments and convictions followed, often just in time for the headlines to help her win another contest in Juneau.

[…]

In one-on-one settings, Palin’s relaxed, no-bull manner has contributed to her popularity in a state of 670,000 residents, where such contacts are not only possible but essential for political success. Voters here also warmed to the outlines of her all-Alaska biography.

THE HOOPS HERO

She was born in Idaho and came to Alaska when she was 3 months old. She grew up in Wasilla, where her father, Chuck Heath, was a teacher and coach, her mother, Sally, a school secretary. One of her most formative experiences, she has said, was helping to lead her high school basketball team to the 1982 state championship. Palin played point guard and got the nickname from her teammates of Sarah Barracuda.

Palin went on to study journalism and political science in college, graduating from the University of Idaho in 1987. Along the way she competed in the Miss Alaska contest after being chosen Miss Wasilla 1984. In both contests, she played the flute and won the title of Miss Congeniality. As runner-up in the state contest, she lost to the first African-American Miss Alaska, Marilyne Blackburn.

She grew up hunting with her father, whose living room wall is densely populated with trophies and antlers. Her favorite meal, she said during her gubernatorial race, is moose meat stew after a day of snowmachining.

She eloped in 1988 with her high school sweetheart, Todd Palin, who expands the family biography considerably. He is a commercial fisherman, an oil field worker, a member of the United Steelworkers and an Alaska Native. Todd’s grandmother grew up in a traditional Yup’ik Eskimo house in Bristol Bay and accompanied Sarah in her race for governor as she sought support from Alaska Native voters. Sarah Palin has joined her family in fishing a commercial setnet site on the Nushagak River in Bristol Bay every summer.

Todd Palin has worked 20 years on Alaska’s North Slope for BP, where he has continued to work as a production operator. He is also a four-time winner of the Iron Dog, the 2,000-mile snowmachine race from Big Lake to Nome along the Iditarod Trail and then on to Fairbanks. Since Sarah was elected governor, Todd has remained in the background as a close political confidante and “First Dude,” an expression his wife sometimes uses.

Sarah Palin made her way into local politics on the Wasilla City Council in 1992 and then ran for mayor as an agent of change. Though she established a reputation as a tax fighter, she actually increased the budget and spending on roads and sewers, reducing property taxes at the same time thanks to a huge increase in sales tax revenues coming to the booming commercial hub. She’s had the same luck as governor — a fiscal conservative in charge of a wealthy government, this time because of high oil prices.

BUILDING AN ETHICS BASE

Palin finished a strong second in the 2002 primary for lieutenant governor and was being groomed by the party for higher office when she clashed with state Republican Party chairman Randy Ruederich. They both had seats on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, appointed by Gov. Frank Murkowski, the Republican she would later depose. She accused Ruederich of misusing the job for political chicanery and eventually resigned in frustration. Ruederich was forced to resign the job as well, though he remains head of the state party.

Palin later took on Murkowski’s attorney general in a conflict-of-interest scandal that forced his resignation. And when state Sen. Ben Stevens, the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, was caught making a dismissive remark about the Wasilla area, Palin appeared in a rebuttal ad wearing a “Valley Trash” T-shirt.

In 2006, she knocked off Murkowski and then Democratic former Gov. Tony Knowles in a campaign that drew on grassroots support, relying on neighbors and friends for staff rather than the party and veterans of big-time campaigns.

She had strong support from social conservatives and often speaks of her religious faith. The Palins have five children, including their first-born, Track, who enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11, 2007. Track Palin is 19 and stationed at Fort Wainwright with the Stryker Brigade, preparing for a deployment to Iraq in September. The Palins also have three daughters: Bristol, Willow and Piper.

The newest member of the family, a son, Trig, was born in April ago after a pregnancy that Palin managed to keep secret for seven months. Trig was born with Down syndrome, which the Palins had discovered through testing.

But as governor, she has not pushed any big-agenda items of social conservatives. She spoke favorably in her campaign of schools teaching the creationism debate with evolution, but lived up to her pledge to do nothing as governor to push the idea. Her first veto was of a bill that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships — she said she supported the idea but accepted legal advice that it was unconstitutional. This year, she declined to call a legislative special session on two abortion bills because they would have interfered with her top priority, a measure promoting a new natural gas pipeline.

OIL AND GAS ISSUES

Her focus has been on raising oil taxes — long suppressed by oil-friendly legislators, the taxes seemed ridiculously low once oil prices started rising — and on launching construction of a $40 billion gasline from North Slope oil fields. Palin took on the oil producers, especially Exxon Mobil, saying they had been dragging their feet on a gasline. She persuaded the Legislature to pass a bill authorizing an independent company to build the line with state subsidy.

The ongoing corruption scandal in the Legislature over influence of the former oil field services company Veco helped Palin force change in the Juneau state capitol. That scandal has spread to include Alaska’s two longtime powers in Congress, Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young. Palin has kept distance between herself and those Republican icons and backed ethics reform measures that passed the Legislature.

Governor Sarah Palin has been a steady voice for conservatism, a true “North Star” that leads and guides. If you have taken the time to read “Going Rogue” you know that over the years as part of the Wasilla Council, Wasilla Mayor, and as Governor of Alaska, Palin has stood firm on the issues of life, individual liberty, energy independence, smaller government, and sound fiscal policy. As chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission she blew the whistle on corruption without regard for party affiliation. How many times in politics do you hear about this kind of story? I would say, not often enough.

During this week of the Republican National Convention I would like to feature some of Governor Palin’s best speeches. I hope that they inspire you as much as they inspire me.

As many are already aware, Governor Palin’s father and brother have written a book that is set to come out in just over two months, on September 25th. A plethora of books have been written about the Governor, by supporters and detractors alike, on a wide range of topics. However, no such book has ever been written by anyone closer to her than Chuck Heath, Sr. and Chuck Heath, Jr. They have promised to share with us who Governor Palin really is. In fact, their book provides such an intimate look into the life of Governor Palin that they’ve titled it, simply, Our Sarah. We may know her as Governor Sarah Palin or former Vice Presidential candidate Palin or Tea Party favorite Palin, but they know her as Sarah, a daughter and a sister.

Chuck, Sr. has been gracious to many as he has joined the Governor at events, like the Going Rogue book tour, where he took the time to sign autographs, shake hands, and pose for pictures with people who wanted to meet the man who instilled many of the great qualities in Governor Palin that we admire and respect.

Chuck, Jr. has been a friend to Governor Palin’s supporters, particularly to the Conservatives4Palin community. He reads the site and sometimes leaves comments. He has expressed his gratitude for those who have had his sister’s back and has assured us that our work has not been in vain. I’m confident we will let him know that the work he and his father have done to get this book to the public has also not been in vain.

We look forward to going directly to the sources for the truth, from childhood to the present, of who Governor Palin is, what truly drives her, and who she is in the quiet moments without the media and cameras. We are privileged to be given access to someone who, while captivating the attention of an entire nation, has simultaneously remained humbly true to her roots as Sarah from Alaska–or as the father-son team would say–Our Sarah: Made in Alaska. With this close look into the life of the most powerful voice in the conservative movement today, we, too, can get to know her better.

One of my favorite sayings is “A person with an experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.” A multitude of “arguments” exist about Governor Palin, and many of us have fought those smears, misrepresentations, and innuendoes. Now, we are privileged to hear specifically from those with a true “experience,” providing us the real deal about the real deal.

We may think we know Sarah Palin from all the coverage she has received in the political arena, but one-side depictions but media coverage is limited and, Sarah would even say, biased. OUR SARAH is also a bit biased since it’s written by Sarah’s dad and brother with contributions from many friends and colleagues–these are the people who know her–and love her–best.

Combining the appeal of Sarah Palin’s bestselling book, Going Rogue, with the flavor of the hugely successful TV show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” here are intimate stories from Sarah’s life along with a celebration of growing up in and sharing all that Alaska means to Sarah and her family. Sarah’s dad and brother share great family stories of life in the last frontier–from hiking, camping, fishing, hunting and gold-mining, to marathon running, teaching and community service–first in small ways and then on a national stage. Structured around themes of family, faith, independence, resilience, character, risk-taking and adventure–here is a full and loving portrait of where Sarah Palin came from and what made her the person she is today.

Although the book hits shelves on September 25th, it has already been made available for pre-order. Amazon has it here. We may also acquire the Kindle edition and the audiobook. Barnes and Noble offers the Nook Book. We may also order it from Christianbook.com. We get to choose our preference.

Check out this picture of Chuck Heath, Sr. Any doubt he’s a proud father?